NEWS
Federal Communications Commission
445 12th Street, S.W.
Washington, D. C. 20554
This is an unofficial announcement of Commission action. Release of the full text of a Commission order constitutes official action.
See MCI v. FCC. 515 F 2d 385 (D.C. Circ 1974).
News Media Information 202 / 418-0500
Internet: http://www.fcc.gov
TTY: 1-888-835-5322
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NEWS MEDIA CONTACT:
April 12, 2013 Neil Grace, 202-418-0506
Email: neil.grace@fcc.gov
FCC AND STATE DEPARTMENT ENGAGING IN CONTINUOUS DISCUSSIONS WITH
CANADA AND MEXICO ON BORDER ISSUES RELATED TO THE INCENTIVE AUCTION
The Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Department of State, under the auspices of the
U.S.-Canada Radio Technical Liaison Committee (RTLC) and U.S.-Mexico High Level Consultative
Commission on Telecommunications (HLCC), have been engaged in on-going discussions with our
counterparts in the Canadian and Mexican telecommunications authorities relating to the Commission’s
planned 2014 Broadcast Television Incentive Auction.
“The U.S. has always had collegial and effective working relationships with our spectrum partners in
Canada and Mexico. Spectrum coordination with our neighbors to the north and south is a key
component to the Commission’s spectrum management mandate,” said Gary Epstein, Chair of the FCC’s
Incentive Auction Task Force. Mr. Jack Spilsbury, Acting United States Coordinator for International
Communications Policy at the State Department added, “The RTLC and HLCC have served as useful
well established bilateral institutions in international communications for all three countries for decades.”
As is typical of open spectrum proceedings with cross-border implications, the United States and its
Canadian and Mexican counterparts have established government-to-government working arrangements
that have been operating to help ensure optimal outcomes for all three countries. The U.S.-Canada
working arrangement has resulted in several teleconferences over the past month.
Historically, this process has resulted in mutually beneficial understandings on efficient, interference-free
use of the spectrum in the U.S.-Canada and U.S.-Mexico border areas. The Commission expects these
consultations will ultimately lead to a better-designed and more successful incentive auction, and will
create opportunities for greater spectrum efficiency and band harmonization across North America.
-FCC-